Celebrity Reflection - Day at Sea between Bimini & Fort Lauderdale?

[colliercruiser]

Looking at some Celebrity Reflection 3 & 4 day itineraries and found some that have a day at sea after leaving Bimini on the way to Fort Lauderdale.  Since that is just a very short distance, I assume this is just to "pad" the itinerary's length.  Does the ship just cruise "in circles" on the way?

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 minutes ago, colliercruiser said:

Looking at some Celebrity Reflection 3 & 4 day itineraries and found some that have a day at sea after leaving Bimini on the way to Fort Lauderdale.  Since that is just a very short distance, I assume this is just to "pad" the itinerary's length.  Does the ship just cruise "in circles" on the way?

 

More likely she'll just sail at a very slow speed.

Edited Saturday at 11:28 PM by WrittenOnYourHeart

[leaveitallbehind]

47 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

More likely she'll just sail at a very slow speed.

Yes.  Likely a long, slow, circuitous and non-direct route to cover the 60 miles back to Port Everglades.  But it will be full day at sea covering probably two (or three) times the actual distance back.

 

As to "padding" the length as mentioned by the OP, typically 3 and 4 day itineraries with the same ship alternate each back to back to provide a single 7 day cycle each week.  Slow as the last day at sea may be, it does provide for a full 4 day itinerary for that cruise.

Edited Sunday at 12:16 AM by leaveitallbehind

[DannyS]

This happens on lots of itineraries. San Juan and St. Thomas are less than 80 miles apart, as are Curacao and Aruba - but a ship leaves one port at 4 or 5PM and arrives at the next one at 9 or 10 AM the next morning. 

 

Generally, the ship will head into international waters, so that they can open the shops and casino, then find a nice quiet spot to drift until the middle of the night when they head to the next port. 

 

For the sea day, they'll just do that a little longer.